Rack construction



y 1958 H. E. EINHORN 2,836,306

RACK CONSTRUCTION Filed June a. 1955 V} \J \V/ I V V V FIG].

M 22 20 FIG 2 /9 A, A5-

' a7 29 /9 27 26 /8 /4 m V 30 x7 INVENTOR HARRY E. EINHORN ATTO R N EY Unite rates RACK CONSTRUCTION Harry E. Einhorn, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Wilco Metal Products, Inc, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 5, 1955, Serial No. 513,197

4 Claims. (ill. 211-177) This invention relates to rack constructions, and is particularly directed to improvements over the invention disclosed in my prior copending patent application Serial Number 502,493, filed April 19, 1955, now Patent No. 2,815,862, granted December 10, 1957.

While the present invention has been primarily developed and employed in connection with a rack for supporting shoes in convenient position, and will be described hereinafter with particular reference thereto, it is appreciated that the instant rack construction is capable of wide application, and all such uses are intended to be comprehended herein. The particular embodiment of the present invention, which is illustrated in the drawings and which will be described hereinafter in greater detail, comprises generally a pair of laterally spaced side members having their lower ends adapted for engagement with a supporting surface, and at least two laterally extending elements connected between the side members to define therewith a frame structure. The laterally extending elements may be provided with suitable means for supporting shoes, or the like, as desired.

As is well known to those versed in the art, racks of the type described, say for supporting shoes, or the like, have heretofore been fabricated of relatively expensive, seamless tubing, and fixedly secured together in their erected or assembled condition. That is, the side members were necessarily bent of tube stock, and the lateral elements either welded, swaged or bolted to the side members. This, of course, involved time-consuming and laborious assembly operations; and, the finished articles required considerable space in shipment and storage, all adding to the ultimate sale price.

Further, in the particular rack construction disclosed in the above-mentioned copending patent application, at least one of the laterally extending elements precisely formed compound bends. In addition to the manufacturing difficulties inherent in such construction, the compound bends prevented the bent elements from lying flat, in one plane, and thus presented storage and packing problems.

It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide a rack construction of the type described, which overcomes the above-mentioned difi-lculties, and which is well adapted for quick and easy assembly and diasassembly by persons of only ordinary skill, all without the use of any tools.

It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a rack construction having the advantageous characteristics mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, wherein the component parts in their disassembled condition may be collapsed to define a relatively fiat package of minimum size. More specifically, each of the component parts of the instant device may be substantially coplanar in configuration, and thus readily superposed one above the other for convenience in packaging and economy of space.

' It is another object of the present invention to provide Patented May 27, 1958 It is a further object of the present invention to pro-- vide an improved rack structure of the type described, which is staunch and durable in construction and use, requiring a minimum of relatively simple parts, and which can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

in the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevational view showing a rack constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the rack of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, somewhat enlarged and taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial, bottom plan view of the rack of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and specifically to Fig. 1 thereof, the embodiment of the invention illustrated therein comprises a pair of upstanding side members, each generally designated 16, and disposed in laterally spaced, facing relation, having their lower ends adapted for engagement with an appropriate supporting surface (not shown). One or more elongate tie or connector members 11 extend laterally between the side members 10, each having its opposite end portions secured to the adjacent side member; and, one or more elongate stay members 12 extend laterally between the side members, spaced from the connector members, and also each having its opposite end portions secured to the adjacent side member.

The side members 10 are preferably identical in construction, one being shown in detail in Figs. 2-4 as of an inverted, generally U-shaped configuration. Further, each of the side members is of tubular construction, being bent of an elongate tube into its U-shaped configuration, and includes an intermediate, generally horizontally disposed bight portion 14 and a pair of parallel spaced, generally vertically depending legs 15, 15. in the assembled condition of Figs. 1 and 2, the free ends of the legs 15 are engageable with an appropriate floor or ground surface for supporting the rack in spaced relation above the latter'surface, as will appear in greater detail hereinafter.

In particular, see Figs. 3 and 4, it will be noted that the sidemembers 10 are each formed of sheet stock and rolled or otherwise bent into tubular form. That is, a flat sheet of metal may be rolled so that its opposite side edges are bent into abutting or proximate relation to define a juncture or seam 17 extending longitudinally along and disposed interiorly of the tubular, U-shaped side member.

In order to maintain the edges of the seam or joint 17 in proximate or meeting relation, a pair of spaced straps, generally designated 18, 18 are secured across the joint on the underside of each bight portion 14, and an additional strap, generally designated 19, is secured across the joint on the inner side of each leg 15. It will be noted versely disposed connector section.

that the straps 18, see Figs. 2-4, are each f ormedlwith a,

7 of the joint 17. A longitudinally centralor intermediate region of each downwardly bowed sleeve 29 is'cut away or open, as' at 22. That is, extendingbetween the opposed tabs 21, 21, and spaced intermediate the ,end of the downwardly bowed strap portion 26, is an opening or cutout 22 which divides the sleeve into a pair of spaced,

end to end aligned sleeve sections 23. As bestseen in Fig. 3, the downwardly bowed sleevesections 23 are each formed with an internal, longitudinally extending recess 24, preferably facing upwards towards the joint 17. Viewed otherwise, the recesses 24, 24 ofeach strap 18 define aligned, open-ended grooves or slots, each of which opens through one end of the respective sleeve 2i} and into the respective sleeve cutout 22.

Each of the straps 19 is similarly formed with an inwardly bowed medial'portion 26 defining an openended, 'vertically disposed sleeve extending longitudinally along the respective side member leg; and, the

V V marginal side portions 27, -27 define tabs fixedly secured,

sion. section, reception of the protuberance 34 in the opening 22 'enables'the terminal extension to be rotated in the sleeve 29, to change the relative angularity of the connector member and frame side member. This will disbounding edge of the cutout 22 to prevent withdrawal as by welding or the like, to the respectiveleg on opposite sides ofthe joint 17.

While the illustrated embodiment discloses two straps or sleeves secured to the bight portion of each sidern'emberQand a singlestrap or sleeve secured to the inner side ofeach leg, it is appreciated that difierent numbers of sleeves may be employed, if'desired.

The connector members 11, 11, two being illustrated in the drawings, are preferably disposedjin generally parallel spaced relation, and extend laterallyin substantiallythe same horizontal plane, between the bight por-.

, member bight portions. The connector members or rods 11 are each bent transversely, in a horizontal plane, at

spaced points so (only one being shown in the drawing) to define parallel spaced, inner connector member end portions 31,

each of which is further bent, as at 32, substantially 180 in a horizontal plane, to define a'pair of i terminal extensions or outer connector'end portions 33 disposed in substantial parallelism with each other and with theinner connector end portions 31. As best seen in Fig. 4, each inner connector end portion 31, its adjacent outer connectorend portion 33, and the connecting bend 32 combine to' define a generally U-shaped, trans- Each outer connector end portion or terminal extension 33 is formed on its inner side with a lateral protuberance, lug or stud 34 projecting toward the inner connector end portion 31. The protuberance 34 may be formed by swaging or otherwise, as desired. As best seen in Fig. 3,'the' outer connector end portions or terminal extensions 33 are each of circular cross-section and of a size adapted for insertion into one of the sleeves 20; and, the protuberance 34 of each terminal extension is proportioned so as to pass through the respective groove 24 uponinsertion of the associated terminal extension. Further, the protuberances- 34 are each arranged to permit insertion and withdrawal of the respective termiing 22'upon insertion of the respective terminal extenof the terminal extension from the'sleeve 20."

It will now be appreciated that each connectormenr ber 11 is substantially coplanar, having its central portion 29, and inner and outer end portions 31and 33 all disposed in substantially the same plane; and, asthe protuberance 34 projects from the outeror terminal extension 33 toward the inner connector member end portion 31, it will be seen that the connector member must be disposed substantially coplanar with respect to each frame side member 10 to permit insertion and fwithdrawal'of the terminal extensions, in the side member sleeves 20; However, as the operative position of Fig; 1 illustrates, the frame side members 10 are disposed-substantially normal to the plane of the connector member 11 when in use, so that inadvertent or :accidental' removal of the terminal extensions'33; from their respective sleeves, and separation of theconnector member from theirame side members is'efiectively prevented. 'That is, the grooves or. slots 24each combine with their adjacent sleeve cutout 22 todefine a bayonet type opening for receiving the protuberance '34 in one angular position of the terminal extension 33 and retaining the latter in the sleeve when the terminal extension is rotated out of the particular:

angularl disposition. r

The connector terminal extensions 33 may; if desired, be integrally connected directly'to the central connector member portion '29, to eliminate the, inner connector member end portions 31, without substantially altering the mannerof insertion and withdrawal described above. However, the illustrated connector member construction is preferred as the inner end portions 31 and bends32 afiord the-connector members a degree of longitudinal resilience or extensibility, which eliminates the need Yfor'precisely V The stay members 12, also shown for purposes of illustratiton as two in number, are identical to each other and preferably fabricated of rod stock. Each ofthe stay members 12 includes an elongate, central or intermediate straight portion 37 and ,angulated terminal portions or extensions 38 at its opposite ends. More 'pa'rticularly, the angulated portions 38 are bent at right angles to the intermediate portion 37, so as to depend generally vertically therefrom for reception in respective sleeves 26.

Each of the stay members 12 thus extends generally horizontally between an opposed pair of respective side members, and has its end portions 38,38 slidably insertible into and .withdrawable' from respective sleeves 26, 26 of the spacedside members. In this manner, the tie members 11 and stay members 12serve' to connect and maintain the side members 10 in upstanding relation, combining with the latter to define a relatively rigid, self-standing structure.

' When .the self-standing structure is intended for supporting shoes and the like, upstanding corrugated wires 39 and 40 may be fixedly secured, respectively, to the intermediate portions of the tie'members ll land'stay members 12. V v

As the tie ,or connectormember terminal extensions 33, and stay member terminal extensions 38 arevslid- As the terminal extension 33 is of circular crossa r ably insertible into and withdrawable from their respective sleeves 20 and 26, it will be apparent that the rack construction may be quickly and easily assembled, as by insertion of the terminal extensions, and disassembled by withdrawal of the latter. The stay member terminal extensions 38, 38 are disposed in substantial parallelism, so that the stay members are substantially coplanar in configuration, as are the connector members 11 and side members 10, as noted hereinbefore. Therefore, in disassembled condition, the various parts of the rack are all relatively flat and may be horizontally superposed or laid one upon the other to form a relatively flat package occupying a minimum of space.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the present invention provides a rack of staunch and sturdy construction, which may be readily assembled and disassembled Without the use of any tools, which otherwise fully accomplishes its intended objects, and which is well adapted to meet practical conditions of manufacture and use.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a rack construction, a pair of inverted generally U-shaped side members disposed in laterally spaced, facing relation and adapted to rest in upstanding condition on a supporting surface, a pair of generally horizontally disposed open-ended sleeves each extending longitudinally along and fixedly secured to the underside of the bight portion of a respective one of said side members, said sleeves each being formed with a longitudinal internal groove opening through opposite sleeve ends, an elongate connector member extending between a sleeve on one side member and a corresponding sleeve on the other side member, said connector member having transversely angulated end portions each removably inserted into the adjacent one of said sleeves, a lateral protuberance on each of said connector end portions shaped for movement through and beyond the groove of the respective sleeve upon insertion of said connector end portions in said sleeves, said protuberances each being disposed for abutting engagement with an edge of the respective sleeve when said side members are in said upstanding condition to prevent withdrawal of said connector end portions from said sleeves, and a stay member extending laterally between and having its opposite ends each connected to a leg of said opposed side members, to prevent movement of said side members out of said upstanding condition and retain said connector end portions in said sleeves.

2. A rack-construction according to claim 1, in combination with a pair of additional sleeves extending longitudinally along and fixedly secured to the legs of respective side members, and transverse extensions on opposite ends of said stay member removably inserted into said additional sleeve.

3. A rack construction according to claim 1, wherein each of U-shaped side members is fabricated of initially fiat stock rolled into a tube having proximate edges extending longitudinally of said tube, said sleeves being secured across said proximate edges to hold the latter together.

4. A rack construction according to claim 3, each of said sleeves comprising a strap having opposite marginal portions secured to its associated side member on opposite sides of said proximate edges to hold the latter together, the medial region of each strap between its secured marginal portions being bowed away from the adjacent side member bight portion and combining with the latter to define a passageway for receiving said connector end portions, said grooves being formed in said bowed strap regions for receiving said protuberances upon insertion of said connector end portions, and said bowed strap regions being cut away to receive said protuberances when said side members are disposed in their upstanding condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

